Europe: VW Ag set to spend 4.2 billion euros for Spanish plants

The Volkswagen Group, the second-largest automaker in the world and the biggest in Europe has recently announced it would spend 4.2 billion euros in its two assembly facilities in Spain.

The investment plans come as Seat’s production facility in Martorell, near Barcelona is reportedly preparing to handle production duties for the next generation Audi A1 minicar. Volkswagen decided not to provide a breakdown of the investment plan and which amounts would go towards the Seat facility or the VW factory in Pamplona in northwest Spain. The expansion strategy “is a guarantee for the future of VW Group facilities in Spain, which are preparing themselves for the assignment of new models,” commented VW Group purchasing chief Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz. He also declined to give any details pertaining to the model mix heading towards the two Spanish facilities, adding in a statement that all models are still under development and will be involved in future announcements.

The German automaker also reiterated that its investment will act as a guarantee for its production facilities in Spain and spread its positive impact across the entire local automotive supply sector. The Spanish brand Seat is actively preparing to produce its first sport utility vehicle and recent media reports put the next generation Audi A1 out of the VW factory in Brussels, Belgium and into Seat’s Martorell plant. Seat also recently went back to positive results with a 33 million euros operating profit for the first three months of the year after losses in the past seven years.